Chapter 1.1: Homeless in Sunset Valley

This is Fern.
She’s a homeless young adult who is the last of the, until recently, wealthy Kingston family. Fern was forced out of Moonlight Falls by the passing-away of her grandmother, and the huge debts her gambling father left after his death.

Fern has escaped into Sunset Valley. It’s a picturesque town by the sea, nestled in between rolling green hills, full of sunshine and families playing on the beach. It’s a wonderful place to live.

Too bad she hates the outdoors, is a couch potato, and a snob!

Since all her inheritance and things were taken by debt-collectors, Fern has zilch Simoleons. Her only possessions are the clothes on her back and, strangely, her phone. The money she did have was used up to hail a taxi, which deposited her at Sunset Valley Central Park.
This is her new home.

Fern takes a deep breath and looks around the park. A fountain plays in the center, circled by blooming margaritas and rustling trees. The air is sweet with fresh-cut grass and coffee from a nearby bistro. A set of swings creak gently in the salty breeze. The whole scene is disgusting.

She takes to the public toilets, which is the only place she won’t be plagued by nature. It is a sunny day but this lowers Fern’s mood. Luckily, a random Sim is having a picnic nearby. It looks like he’s not hungry, so she sits down and starts eating without a word!

For a while the man seems oblivious of this stranger eating his food. I think he’s deep in philosophical thoughts about life, which is good for Fern. From her ‘nom nom’ sounds those hot dogs sound great.

However, the Sim eventually notices and tells Fern to scoot away and leave him and his hot dogs in peace. I think he was meditating with his food.

Fern has learnt her first lesson today; do not go and eat stranger’s picnics.

She goes over to the swings, but she’s a little confused on how they work. Fern’s never been on one before, as she was always holed up inside as a child.

She soon gets the hang of it, though, and Fern discovers that it’s actually quite fun. She swings happily for an hour or two, so she starts to feel sweaty and hungry. But she’s also discovered the joy of such a simple action, and that’s just what I want.

She sees a somewhat suspicious looking lady and asks her where the nearest shower and food is. The woman points towards a modern complex just across the road. “You have to get a gym membership, though. Well, you look… like you need it.” How rude.

Fern thanks her anyway. Good, at least she still has some manners. She heads towards the 28 Hour Wellness Gym, which smells like soap and chlorine.

The gym is full of noises, and splashing from the indoor pool. Heading up the staircase, Fern enters a loft where several fitness machines are placed. The fact that she notices the T.V before the shirtless man in the corner scares me a little.

^ That. Baby. Is. Creepy. Fern might not have noticed, but I have. ^

So Fern watches the T.V for a while, as she’s a couch potato. But then the Hopeless Romantic in her notices the blonde buff man next to her.

I tell her to say hello as she seems a bit shy. We find out that his name is Xander Clavell, and that he is single. Yay! Unfortunately, Fern tries her hand at flirting.

It does not go well. Xander insults her about her laziness.

I’m starting to feel sorry for Fern by this stage, so I send her downstairs to eat some icecream.

Oh dear. Fern is feeling humiliated, and even as she eats her favourite treat, she looks sad. I think maybe the laziness insult has really hit too close to home. She returns the park as stars begin to blink like electric light bulbs in the sky.

Fern has been sitting here for a while, the cold seeping into her, when this random man comes and eats a hot dog right in front of her. She seems to feel a bit awkward so she gets up and leaves. It’s time, anyway.

Dude LOL I just re-read this chapter and it is so different to your recent chapters. Here, it’s mostly screenshots with captions whereas your current chapters tell a wonderful story, aided by a screenshot. Pretty cool how you’re writing style can change so much in only like 6 months. xD

I’ve come back to start the story again. I’m so busy in my own RL, that I had to let some things go, like reading stories online. Very good start to the story and I’m very interested to see what happens to her!

First of all, it’s good you have a warning that this generation is a “potato” compared to your current generation, because just looking at the quality of your sample photo of gen 3 and your header, the screenshots here can be quite jarring. If I didn’t read the warning, I’d think I ended up in a different legacy. *grin*

BUT…

Reading comments about how this is you not trying in terms of writing, I’m amazed, because the writing here is already pretty good. There’s humor. There’s good characterization. And there are lines like these…

“Fern takes a deep breath and looks around the park. A fountain plays in the center, circled by blooming margaritas and rustling trees. The air is sweet with fresh-cut grass and coffee from a nearby bistro. A set of swings creak gently in the salty breeze. The whole scene is disgusting.”

You describe the surroundings, the atmosphere, etc. in a really vivid way, and then throw in one line that immediately tells us what kind of a character Fern is. It’s brilliant. Five lines and you both explain setting and character in a deep way. If this is you not trying, Gen 3 must be a masterpiece!

Oh boy… I’m pretty sure this is one of those stories that will make me several different levels of insecure. Ah but well… I learn as I read. 🙂

Yay you’ve begun reading! I hope you enjoy the mess that is to come lol.
Ahhh I’m very happy you think that, thank you so much. I do think there is a little bit of decent humour in the first generation or two, but I’m also pretty sure I’ve lost it right now, so I’m working on that! Generation Three is definitely better but in some ways it might not be. I really REALLY don’t like the characterisation in the current gen, so I will also warn you that you might cringe or get annoyed at the characters because I certainly did rereading it haha. So I’m not sure you will feel that insecure, I think your writing is better than mine right now anyways! Nevertheless, I do hope you have fun reading, and maybe laugh a bit along the way too!

Well, it’s my turn to catch up 🙂 I know you’re on a hiatus and all, but you can’t stop me! Anyway, prepare yourself for minor like spam here and there.
I like your beginning – I think you’re selling yourself short in your writing. I mean, this is clearly not a story (yet, as I can understand), but your language is nice 🙂

Hi there! Thanks for reading 🙂
Welcome to the story, I’m glad you like the beginning haha.
This is actually a reminder for me to go back and comment on your chapters. I’m really enjoying your stories, but I’m weird and didn’t want to start commenting midway 😅

I’m going back to comment, as I have been reading on my cell and I prefer the keyboard of my computer! I like you starting out with a girl like Fern, who’s not model pretty! It makes her more appealing as she’s struggling both with her weight and style of life!

Thank you for all your comments, it was a pleasant shock to see 42 WordPress notifications on my phone this morning haha. Yes, one Simlit trope that annoys me is a super pretty sim arriving in a town, getting any guy she wants and getting married in two days, so I thought it would be fun to do it a bit differently!